Research shows cities see fewer uninsured drivers if they authorize their police to tow vehicles driven by people who aren’t carrying proof of insurance, Topeka City Councilwoman Elaine Schwartz said.

She suggested the city of Topeka give its police that authority, though some of her fellow council members question the idea.

The city’s governing body spent more than an hour at its meeting this past week discussing Schwartz’s suggestion. She said afterward that she and the city staff would continue to research the topic while obtaining answers to questions the governing body posed, and that she planned to bring the matter back before that body when she is ready.

Schwartz handed fellow council members one document at Tuesday’s meeting that said the cities of Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore and Philadelphia all have made her suggested move, and another that said a 2014 study by the Insurance Research Council estimates 9 percent to 11 percent of Kansas drivers are uninsured.